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How to make L rods

First, the reason they are called L rods is from the shape of them. L rods can come in all sizes and can be made out of a variety of materials. It’s up to you to decide whether you want heavy or light rods, or long or short rods. There are some very tiny rods available which are used for dowsing over maps. There are others which are much longer than your average forearm. The choice is yours. Of course, you can have as many types as you like, as you’re going to be making them!

Although L rods are always sold in pairs, you don’t actually need two rods, except on very rare occasions. So you can begin with just the one. It won’t matter at all.

The idea behind all L rods is that they should be able to held comfortably and to swing easily. Some people prefer to have rods with sleeves to hold, while others don’t care. I don’t have sleeves on my rods, but Maggie does. It’s just a matter of choice.

Simple rods can be made from lengths of brazing rod, for example, These are cheap and come in a variety of thicknesses. You can find one which is the right weight for you easily enough. To make it, you need to hold one end of it and mark slightly above that as the place to make the bend. Make sure that, when you hold it, there is enough length for it to feel comfortable.

You can also make rods from copper wire, but be aware that these types can be more easily bent in day-to-day use. Also, copper can be expensive, which might be another consideration. You can also use lengths of steel. Those are really hard to damage! My rods, for example, are made from plain steel. There’s nothing fancy about them at all. I often jam one of them into the ground as a marker when I’m working. You can’t do that with copper rods.

Another way to make an L rod is to take a wire coat-hanger and snip it below the hook and again half-way along the bottom part. Then it’s a simple matter of bending the resulting part into an L shape. Again, very cheap and easy, but liable to get bent through use. But they are good ones to learn with.

As for sleeves, as I said earlier, it depends on how comfortable or not you are using them. Maggie jokingly calls her rods, ‘girly’ rods, because they are so sensitive. I can’t use them, because they swing so much when I hold them.

The easiest way of making sleeves is by slipping a straw over where you hold it and then bending the bottom part up to keep the straw from falling off. You can substitute the barrel of a ball-point pen for the straw for greater durability.

The point you must keep in mind, no matter what type of rod you make, is that as long as it is responsive when you hold it, that is all that matters. Nothing else!

Dowsing with L rods

L rods are the second most popular tool for dowsing, after the pendulum. Sometimes they are called divining rods, although that is not an accurate term as the word ‘divining’ tends to make people think of some supernatural insight into the future, which is not what dowsing is.

Often people will ask how dowsing rods work. The simple answer is that they work because the dowser is making them move. And that happens because of tiny movements in the dower’s hand and arms which are subtle reactions impossible to stop.

With a pendulum, pretty much everyone can hold one so that it dangles below their hand. However, L rods require a little more sophistication in the way they are held. Because they are rods with handles, they have to be held in such a way that they can move easily to one side or the other, or cross over in front of the dowser. That means they cannot be held too high up, or they will fall back o the dowser, nor can they be held too low, as they will only dangle uselessly.

The ideal position is just below the horizontal. The hands and arms should be as relaxed as possible and still hold the rods easily in that position. If the thumbs are on top of the rods, they simply won’t move, so make sure that the rods can swing by making small movements with your arms or hands. When you’re happy with that, get the rods back to the start position and hold them steady there.

Most rods come in pairs, but you don’t actually need two at a time for most dowsing purposes. So, if you find that one hand is more sensitive, go with just that one to begin with.

To use dowsing rods, you must, as always, have a clear question in mind and then get into the dowsing state which allows the answer to come without your emotions blocking it. For most dowsers, a yes is when the rod swings inwards toward the body. Conversely, a no is when it swings outwards. Of course, your response might be different. Practice and see.

Rods are most often used outside for location purposes. When using dowsing L rods in this way, you need the same precise question and the same dowsing state. Assuming you are walking across some land to find an answer to your question, you will need to decide in advance what will be a ‘yes’ for you when you have found it. It could be when your leading foot is over it, when your hands are over it or even when the tips of the rods are over it. As long as you know what will be the trigger of the response to move the rods, you will be able to locate what you are looking for.

Of course, there’s a whole lot more to both dowsing and L rods, but this should be enough to get you started.

What do you use L Rods for? Share your ideas and techniques in the comments section below

Which Are The Best Dowsing Rods?

The best dowsing rods, or dowsing l rods as they are often called, are not necessarily going to be the same ones for different people.

To answer this question, you need to be clear in your mind what it is you mean by ‘best’. It could be that ‘best’ means ‘feels the nicest’. Or it could be that it means, ‘just the right weight’. Or it could be the length, or what the rod is made of, or how easily it moves for you.

As you can see, that might mean that what is ‘best’ for you might be something which another person wouldn’t spend any time, or money, on.

And that’s another aspect to think about. Some dowsing rods are very cheap – as in free –because you make them yourself. Others are incredibly expensive. I think the most expensive ones I’ve seen are somewhere around $2000.

Which is fine if you’re making them and you can persuade someone to part with that amount of money. But, really, all rods, the expensive ones and the free ones, all do the same thing in the same way. That is, they respond to tiny movements in the muscles of your hand and arm, making them move in one way or another.

You can see that the answer to the question, ‘What are the best dowsing rods’ really depends on your own preference as well as your budget.

The best dowsing rods? You decide!

So, in order to help answer it for you, here are the following things you should take into account when you are thinking about buying any l rods.

First, do they actually feel comfortable in your hands when you hold them? If they don’t, then you are never going to feel comfortable using them and you shouldn’t get them.

Secondly, how do they look? Do you like the materials they are made of? Do they feel too heavy or too light?

Third. What about how easily they move? Do they seem to whizz around like helicopter blades or are they very sluggish? Some dowsing rods are made with handles which allow the rod to swing more easily. Others, like mine, are just one piece of metal, no handles at all. Maggie’s rods have handles and, to me, they are just way too sensitive, moving all the time. On the other hand, she doesn’t like mine because they are not as sensitive and don’t move as easily. She calls hers ‘girly rods’, because they are so sensitive. It’s purely a matter of personal preference.

Fourth. What about the size of the rods? Some people like dowsing rods which are long. Others prefer shorter ones. Some rods you can actually alter the pivot point and change how the rod reacts.

A lot of times, rods are used on the move, outside, so you should take that into consideration as well. Walk around with them, when you try them out, before settling on them. They need to feel good on the move as well as when standing still.

Above all, bear this in mind. You can dowse with a bent coat hanger or hand-crafted copper and titanium, but the movement, the actual dowsing, comes down to you. Just make sure you’re happy with the rods you use, and then always remember, it’s you doing the dowsing, and not the rods. They are just there to show you the reaction. Nothing else!

Finally, dowsing rods are always sold in pairs. I’ve never known why that is. But you don’t generally need two to dowse with. One works just fine. So, you can make just one on its own, and I promise you, you can dowse with that and have a free hand to hold markers or sandwiches, a notebook or anything else. Try it and see!

Happy dowsing!

What type of rods do you favor? Do you have a particular pair (or just one!) which is perfect for you? Let us know in the comments section below.

L rods: Are They Right For You?

There are really only a small number of types of dowsing tools. The pendulum is out in front in terms of popularity. L rods are not that far behind. Although they are not as popular as pendulums, they do have certain advantages. For example, it's hard to use a pendulum outdoors on a windy day, or while you are walking across a field. It shakes about too much and is difficult to read. That's not true with l rods.

One thing about l rods, which you have probably noticed as well, is that they are, invariably (with a few small exceptions), sold in pairs. And, whenever people are taught how to use them, they are taught to use them with one in each hand.

However, you don't have to use two l rods at once. In fact, for most purposes, one l rod is perfectly fine to use. It will show yes and no, and point out direction and all the other things which l rods do. There's no need for both, except in some few circumstances. For example, let's say that you were tracking an underground stream and at one point it branched into two streams. With just one l rod you'd find it hard to discover that, but two l rods would show the divergence.

You can make your own l rods quite easily from an old wire coat hanger. Lots of them are made of copper and some of brass. Nigel's, which he likes a lot, are steel. Very sturdy and he doesn't need to be careful about damaging them when using them!

This video introduction to l rods will help you learn the basics of this dowsing tool.

What are your l rods made of? Do you always use two of them together or one at a time? Share your experiences and thoughts in the comments section below